Of God and His Creatures
That God perfectly understands Himself
WHEN by an impression on the understanding that power is brought to
bear on its object, the perfection of the intellectual act depends on
two things: one is the perfect conformity of the impression with the
thing understood: the other is the perfect fixing of the impression on
the understanding: which perfection is the greater, the greater the
power of the understanding to understand. Now the mere divine essence,
which is the intelligible representation whereby the divine
understanding understands, is absolutely one and the same with God
Himself and with the understanding of God. God therefore knows Himself
most perfectly.
6. The perfections of all creatures are found at their best in God.
But of perfections found in creatures the greatest is to understand
God: seeing that the intellectual nature is pre-eminent above other
natures, and the perfection of intellect is the act of understanding,
and the noblest object of understanding is God. God therefore
understands Himself perfectly.
This also is confirmed by divine authority, for the Apostle says:
The spirit of God searcheth into even the deep things of God (i
Cor. ii, 10).
1.46 : That God understands by nothing else than by His own Essence
1.48 : That God primarily and essentially knows Himself alone